The Regina boys cross country team doesn't always measure success
in wins and losses.

The Regals tend to take the long view, marking the improvement
at each meet toward the ultimate goal of a state title.

That's what they did at Tuesday's West High Invitational. Regina
took third place with 79 points, losing only to Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Marshalltown, which each scored 44 points. Kennedy
won the meet on the sixth-runner tiebreaker.

"Our boys are getting better and better, and our pack is getting
better and better," Regina coach Bob Brown said. "We're going to be where we want to be by the end of the year."

Marshalltown is currently ranked sixth in Class 4A, and Kennedy
is No. 11. The Class 1A Regals faced the same two teams two weeks ago at the Marion Invitational.

Regina gained 26 points on Marshalltown and 12 points on Kennedy
on Tuesday, and there were two more teams at Tuesday's meet than at Marion.

"I was pretty happy with how things went considering we're
running against a bunch of 3A and 4A schools that are bigger than us," Ries said.

The Regals' pack finished within 11 places and 27 seconds of
each other. Michael Sinkey was 14th for Regina, John Dwyer was 16th, Tyler Sullivan was 19th, Matt Larew was 20th and Chase
Wombacher was 21st.

West's boys finished right behind Regina in fourth place with
112 points.

Mike Clancy led the Trojans with third place in a season-best
time of 16:28.

"I think we're all pretty happy with our race," Clancy said.
"We're just putting up a fight, trying to stick with those ranked teams."

Alex Kharbush was 11th for West, Nick Peterson was 25th, Painjgi
Sunday was 35th, Jake Mize was 38th, and Daniel Novak was 41st.

"Our guys are developing," West coach Mike Parker said. "We
just have to get our fifth runner up there. Our fifth runner is what's going to make a big difference for us."